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Qsynth assignes one soundfont to all channels

Hello,

when i create a new engine and load some soundfonts under [setups] and then check the [channels] i see that qsynth has assigned one of those soundfonts to all 16 channels. Double rightclicking on one of the channels shows that there is not all the soundfonts i had loaded to choose from, but only one (or 2) of them, which is taking over all the channels. How should i load the fonts so that i can use them on different channels?

Many thanks,

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rncbc's picture

that is exactly the way qsynth/fluidsynth works, you're not doing anything wrong.

many soundfonts are multi-timbral, that meaning that those provide several instrument patches or presets to select from. when first time loading those soundfonts instrument presets are often spread in program number order, one by one, to each of 16 MIDI channels. after that you can edit, select and assign a different preset onto any other channel, if you're not happy with the so called "factory" preset layout.

now, if you load more than one soundfont onto the same engine, you'll have multiple presets that might overlap each other, depending on soundfont's default bank and program numbers. that's why you'll have to plan the stacking order and for bank-offsets when loading more than one soundfont on a same engine, so that you get all or most desired presets as accessible and addressable on the channels assignment list.

hth.
cheers

Hello and thanks for your comment. What do you mean with planing the stacking order and bank-offsets? My problem is that the soundfonts are actually not loaded at all (obviously) as i cant see any of them when clocking the [channels] button.

rncbc's picture

so what part of "i see that qsynth has assigned one of those soundfonts to all 16 channels" did i not understand?

I thought this still needs a bit of clarification, as it was confusing me. When multiple sound fonts are loaded into an engine, the first one with the given bank and channel is the one that is played. As I wanted to create an engine using different instruments from different soundfonts, what I needed to do was to edit each sound font so that it had a different bank number. (Any sound font editor should do that for you). I could then select them using the bank selection when setting up my channels.

rncbc's picture

you really don't need to edit or modify the soundfont, just loading in qsynth with a bank-[b]Offset[b] will do, so that it won't clash with those already provided by previous soundfonts in the same "stack", on an engine's Setup > Soudfonts.

hth. cheers

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